Iran to Unveil New Oil, Gas Contract Terms in December

Iran will introduce its new oil and gas contract terms in December in London, country’s petroleum minister Bijan Zangeneh said earlier this week.

Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) has been developed in a bid to sweeten energy contracts for foreign firms who can help Iran enhance recovery from its oil and gas fields, state owned Shana News said.

Iran has more than 50 oil and gas projects which need at least $185 billion in investment for completion.

“New contracts with foreign companies will be signed in the IPC framework which I think will be more attractive,” Zangeneh said.

Zangeneh said beside the new contract model, Iran will introduce its upstream oil projects at the conference, Shana News reported.

Under the IPC framework, Iran will cede exploration, development and production operations on a field exclusively to a foreign contractor. Foreign companies will be required to commit to optimal and sustainable production from the field and transfer of technology.

IPC is replacing buyback deals which required the host government to pay the contractor an agreed price for all volumes of hydrocarbons it produced, Shana News said, adding that the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will set up joint ventures for crude oil and gas production with international companies which will be paid with a share of the output.